Page 5

Chapter 5

Evie

I woke up with an elephant trying to smash my head in. My eyes cracked open. Nope, just the sun trying its best to invade my eyeballs. I went to pull the blankets up with my hands and found I had none. My brain stumbled around to the fact I was still in Harrowood and nothing had torn me apart, eaten me or used my human soul for any nefarious purpose. I looked down, and I sported a black, shiny tail poking out from under the covers, so I was still a snake. It wasn’t all a horrible fever dream brought on by that bar and drinking away my birthday.

I was also alone. I distinctly remember climbing into Ward’s lap and yet I wasn’t in his bed. Should I feel flattered or disappointed? I wasn’t proud to admit I had been secretly hoping I had done well enough on our little quest that Ward would at least kiss me. It was a crazy thought about someone I just met, but I couldn't deny that being with him felt natural. Right, even.

Glancing around the room, I braced for cots and cobwebs, maybe a lava pit—anything remotely like what I imagined a magical castle might hold. I wasn't prepared for the silken couches, a deep reading window, and enough colorful pillows to bury yourself under. My bed looked like elf-craft with a high, arching frame covered in gauzy fabric. Fit for a princess—a hungover, crabby princess.

Fallon and Maggie sat stuffed into robes, eating breakfast. Mags raised an eyebrow, but didn’t bother to get up or make any room as I shifted and walked over.

“I will never get used to that,” Maggie said as she took a delicate bite of dry toast.

“Look at you lazy bitches. Living in the lap of luxury, I see. You look like you moved in,” I said.

“We got comfortable,” Fallon said. “You sucked up all the adventure for us.”

Maggie leaned forward, eager for details. “Please tell me you spent all night boning after that dramatic exit.”

I gave her a mulish look. “We went to his… cave, and it was pretty fast-paced walking and trying not to die from there.”

“No. You haven’t boned yet? That man destroyed an entire bar to get to you.” Maggie's horrified face made me antsy. Was she just trying to push me into the arms of the first guy who came along to absolve her of her guilt?

“You will remember I was a snake,” I said

“He looked super into snakes then, E,” Maggie snarked. I didn’t appreciate her sarcasm. Even now, she was not the least hungover. She neatly scraped her hair back into a ponytail. She wore her robe like a Queen and I was a trembling hot mess after last night. Sometimes her insistence that I was lovable felt like a cosmic joke when I had to sit next to her.

Fallon raised her voice above our bickering. “You don't seem too freaked out and you’re not a tube. Did he fix it?” She was at least rumpled after our debauchery.

“No. It’s pretty much worse. Holding this body for a while is the best I got. Maybe if I eat, I’ll have enough energy to make it last longer until the bar guy and his friends singing kumbaya will turn me back to human permanently.” I went to sit with Fallon instead, knocking off half the pillows on the couch.

Fallon sighed like she was the one turned into a snake. “Being a shifter doesn’t seem so bad if it comes with this castle and this food. I’m just the sidekick and they brought me breakfast in bed … on a tray. You’ll have to pry me out of here. So far no one has asked me to do anything adult and I don't think they pay taxes.”

I glared at her. “You get to stay human! Without a supposed mate. Of course you love it here.”

My girls looked at me with varying levels of shock and awe.

Fallon leaned all the way forward, Custard Toast crumbs falling all around her. Her eyes grew large and wet. “Did you say, mate?”

“Don’t start, Fallon. This is what they warned about our whole life. Shifters coming for our women type thing. This is unhinged. Would you trust someone who said they instantly fell in love with you?” They both stared hard at me.

“It’s not romantic, you crazy bitches! In the past twenty-four hours, I’ve been kidnapped, on a quest, eaten a relic and been told I’m someone’s Fated Mate.”

Mags’ perfect brows lowered, her mouth screwing up in that angry twist that annoyed me to no end. “How are we sisters? He has a castle, for Godds’ sake. Women would kill to be stuck with a hot man ready to fulfill their fantasies, whatever you want to call the relationship. That was the only good part of the stories they told us. Stick his dick in you already before he takes off, like Abner.”

That was a low blow. Abner didn’t take off like he wandered to the next village. Well, he wandered away. From me. There was nowhere to go in our village that we weren’t. What she meant was, he went around town bragging he had pity banged both the Stillgrove sisters - the hot one and the fat one. Some days, I didn’t know how I still spoke to her. Even though Abner had walked out on me. They slept together the same day. I knew she didn’t have similar thoughts on monogamy, but couldn't she have resisted just a little? She never told me why, only half apologized in her way. Her love advice ranked pretty low in my book.

“Hot stranger!” I cried. “Who can turn into a gigantic bear. The kind we were always told were about to eat us. Human boys were hard enough.”

Fallon hugged me with one arm. “‘Boys’ is the word to watch there, sweetie. That bear is all man.”

“The elves told us shifters would eat us and you know how much I trust their opinion. Don’t let him be a stranger,” Mags cried. That's what Ward said, too. “You put one leg over here and the other over there and enjoy.”

Okay, so he was more of a gentleman than my sister. I sputtered out sounds in protest. Mags had always acted casual about sex ever since she worked herself out into that hot body. It seemed to recharge her rather than cause her my level of anxiety. We never agreed about the casual thing. I was too awkward to show anyone but Abner how terrible I was at sex and look how that turned out.

“He’s not looking for a one-night stand like you’re thinking, Mags.”

Mags flopped back on the couch. “I give up trying to make you see reason. Get out of this room if you're going to pass on smoking hot man ass. You're not my sister anymore.”

There was a polite knock on the door. My sister unceremoniously grabbed me by the hair and dragged me to the door. It hurt like the sting of a thousand nettles.

She opened the door on a surprised Ward as she shoved me out into the hallway.

“And don’t come back here until you’ve had a log between those thighs.”

I don’t think my cheeks could have gotten any hotter until Ward’s blazing gaze connected with mine. I resisted the urge to cover my face with my hands.

“Ignore her. I’ve disowned that one,” I said.

Ward just smiled, but his eyes held a banked fire of desire I didn’t know what to do with. He stared so hard I wondered if he was going to push me against the wall right there in the hallway. I licked my lips nervously, and he tracked every movement.

Pinching his eyes shut and furrowing his brow, he said, “There isn’t time.” That settled some internal argument, and he held out his arm for me to take. “The Grove is ready for you.”

“Just checking they won’t initiate me into a sex cult, right? They’re going to help with the snake thing?”

I didn’t really think that, but when I put my hand on his forearm, trying my best not to fumble or accidentally touch more of him, my mouth needed to give my brain a distraction. With my current swirl of emotions, I would do something stupid like ask him to fulfill Maggie’s orders. We started down the hall.

“No sex—” Ward cleared his throat. “No sex cult, viper. But when we’re finished, I will be leaving.”

I blinked at him. He was what? “Excuse me?” I definitely sounded angry despite the fight I just put up in my room. How were we supposed to figure anything out if he was leaving?

“Leaving where?” I asked.

Ward didn’t pause, but that suited me just fine. I had to walk out all these sudden feelings.

“Our realm isn’t safe from the Goddess or her relics. The time of the Godds was pure chaos. The first Kings gathered to kill them for just that reason. Veretis was an especially bloodthirsty deity, according to legend. As one of the only shifter Kings, it’s my obligation to help retrieve and contain them if I can. Shifters have worked hard to be seen as more than their animals. I am proof that we can be more than that.”

That sounded very noble, but also a lot of pressure. “What about the other Kings? Can't they do it?”

“Kings and Queens. We’ve made that much progress at least,” Ward said. “The others are powerful. They would have to be to hold a territory, but sirens, elves, vampires, the fae, even mages, will show no mercy to any shifter answering the call. Their crown comes with expectations that they will eliminate all threats in their domain and none of them would waste a breath on someone they see as little more than an animal. I have to find the rest of the relics before all the Harrowlands goes to war over them and us.”

My stomach twisted into knots as it replayed our quest together. That sounded a lot harder than just going to the local temple. “There are more? And you know where they are?”

He hesitated. “I will handle it. Our basic bond and my magic will have to be enough to keep me from the call. Your safety comes first. You’ll be safe at home.” He said it with such conviction it closed off any other words in my throat. “When this is all over, I will show you how good we can be together.” Ward brushed a thumb over my cheek.

That should have been flattering and swoon worthy. It made my tummy grumble instead. We hardly knew each other, but that brief road trip really got me to like the guy. The thought of Ward in danger made my head spin. He didn’t think I could cut it the second time. Great. Guess he didn’t need the sex demonstration to hightail it out of my presence. Someone else who didn’t want me, even with a mate bond in the mix. I didn’t know what I wanted at this point. His terrifying giantness and pure gentleness were scrambling my brain.

He led me out of the keep through a cute town, alive with the morning’s activities. Soft clouds scuttled across the sky, pushed by a warm breeze that ruffled Ward’s hair. He breathed deep, the sun glinting off the gold highlights in his hair.

I had little time to take in the town when we came back from the mountain, but in the soft light of day, it was a cheery place that just happened to be filled with monsters. There didn't seem to be any rending of limbs in the street as we walked by. Normal shops, the two inns, and a smithy and tannery.

Nearing the edge of town, where the woods met the last of the town’s shops, we stopped in front of a large building that was built like a cottage on steroids. The guy that answered the door looked like a kind old grandpa.

“Keegan.” Ward nodded respectfully. “Meet my mate?—”

“Oh, we heard all about it already. Everyone’s ready to plan the next wedding in between figuring out what to do now that the Godds are alive again.”

“They haven't returned. The Godds are still dead and we’ll keep it that way if we want any peace.”

Of course, that was the part he focused on.

Wedding!? My mental squeak grated on my own ears. I reached for our channel of communication automatically, even though I was in human form. Was that planned for before or after you abandoned me?

Ward winced. The druids are the town’s gossips. Just ignore them.

“No wedding. You can all stand down. Just here to help my mate with her snake problem,” Ward said as he released my hand to duck into the cottage.

“Of course, of course, my liege.” Keegan stepped back to let us in. “We will confer later on the Goddess.”

“This doesn’t involve eating anything, does it?” I instinctively reached for Ward again and surprised us both by folding our hands together.

Keegan laughed like I had told the best joke in the world. Too bad I was serious. He started down the hall without bothering to answer my question, and I looked at Ward. He shrugged. Keegan led us through swooping passages and towering architecture that appeared to grow out of the floor.

I don’t know, little viper. Druid magic is beyond me. They renew their magic through the Danu tree and commune with the land they live on. Like doing magic with a stick, if you ask me. Regardless, I would never let anything happen to you.

I looked out past the branches that formed windows. They looked more like portals to the fields beyond. I didn’t trust him—this magic foolishness was too strange, the rules too vague. What if a tree decided it didn't like me? Unfortunately, there wasn’t another way to be snake-free forever.

The natural fiber wall hangings didn't help orient me as we progressed. They all looked the same to me, unlike the tapestries Ward decorated his keep with. I immediately became lost. The entire building appeared deserted, giving it an eerie feel. I found out why as the druid pushed open a heavy door, built of an entire tree slab, to reveal an impossible room with every member of the Grove and a gigantic tree inside.

What the … My words strangled in my mind.

Surrounded by flagstones, the sprawling tree had so many red leaves it looked like it was bleeding. The ashy bark rounded over knots and boles covering its multiple trunk sections. Roots pushed through the flagstones at its base like you would push pillows around a couch. The tree stood proud, settled in its favorite spot, with a small stream running through the room and… blue sky with sunlight peeking out behind its crown of leaves. It looked like it had everything it needed, including a bevy of people tending to it.

Everyone turned to look at me. For some reason, I forgot this ritual would make me the center of attention, and I immediately tried to use Ward’s bulk as a distraction to find the nearest exit. Too bad our hands were still locked together because when I went to take off, he used my momentum to swing me forward into the room. Ruby and Dane pushed through the throng of druids and the tree shivered behind them. I swallowed hard as the branches moved, straining to get to the woman while the roots grew up between her and her druid.

“Ruby!” Dane, now separated by at least a foot or two of roots, had no way to come to her or any of us.

“Easy, big guy. I assume Dane needs to help,” Ruby said, and the roots fell back into the floor. She turned to Ward. “I hear you get to be my minion while we fix up the bar.”

“When I come back,” Ward said.

Right. On his schedule and on his terms. I knew the uncharitable thought wasn’t fair. If more relics were causing the havoc I saw in the temple, they needed to be stopped. And it wasn’t like I wanted to tag along. I was more of an indoor kid.

“Let’s get started, then.” Ruby clapped her hands, and the discussion stopped. “The Danu Tree has agreed to help—” I bet it did. It was still trying to reach for her, tiny roots caressing her shoes. “—and the wizard gang has a plan. Take the snake girl over there.”

It didn’t look like Ward was going to let go of my hand.

I’ll be fine, I reassured him.

It took a few moments before he moved back, but his eyes never left me.

“Shift,” Dane directed.

Ward nodded like I knew anything about what I was doing and I let my concerns and my skin melt away. The entire room gasped. Shifting bodies rustled throughout the room as the low hum of conversation started.

Do I have something on my tail? I asked Ward.

You’re just a bit large for a snake, mate. You’re beginning to make humans look snack-sized.

Great. I was weird even in a magical land.

“Stand here, Ward,” Ruby directed.

He waited across the stream with arms folded over his broad chest.

Dane walked over to give Ward instructions. A group of druids started chanting, lighting up magic to spread designs all over the floor as the volume of their chant grew. It looked like I was sitting in a neon prism and it took my breath away. The glyphs raced across the stream as the roots of the tree arched and snapped to form something like a door just at the water’s edge.

Keegan and Dane set black candles around the outline of the floor design and one at the apex of the triangle I stood in. The shape formed an arrow pointing toward the tree door. The room’s pressure built, despite the silence following the floor’s decoration.

“Step west, fellow traveler.”

That must be me. I acted like this was perfectly normal and not the start of a cult initiation, and followed the arrows. I waited for more lights or at least an instruction or two, but nothing—only the increasing pressure as I got closer to the door. All those eyes on me were making my scales crawl. I focused on Ward.

Way to give a girl performance anxiety.

Ward barked a laugh into the silence, and a bit of confidence welled in me. What a time to forget he could hear me. His smile propelled me forward, even with it getting hard to breathe. I was almost to the door, my heart racing, and finished it like I read a book - fast and dirty.

My very human foot landed across the stream among a mirror image of the sigils I just slithered through. The rest of my naked but human body followed, and a cheer went up from everyone in the room. Ward’s spell activated, and a giant sheet draped over me, so I didn’t have to guess if they were cheering for my body or the fact I had a human one again. I smiled up at Ward as the assembly whooped and hollered their success. I didn’t feel the least bit snake-like.

“How are we supposed to tell if it work?—”

My back arched into an unwilling line. Another presence scooped me out, using my body like a meat puppet. Rising off the floor, my hair floating to the unthinkable sky, I tried not to scream. The Goddess took hold of my mouth instead.

“You dare to dilute my power with your druid magic?”

Everyone flattened themselves to the floor except Ward.

I saw him through the Goddess’ eyes and felt ‘champion’.

“The Fates have chosen well for you, Ward. Take your gift and save our people, but be warned—if you turn away from your true nature, you will fail in this task. Cherish my vessel, and your reward will be great.”

Was that me? Was I a vessel now? My breath grew short and my chest tightened. Curling up in a ball sounded like my new life plan. I wasn’t ready to be a snake, let alone a vessel.

“Get out of my body, you crazy old bat!” I didn’t know what else to do but flail around or swim back to the floor. I didn’t care that I looked demented. This was outside of too much. The Goddess waited until I tired myself out before she calmly started up her routine again.

“Take your quest to—” I shoved her hard, trying to get her out. We both froze as she picked up my psyche and plopped it onto a tiny toddler’s chair. “Take your quest to the west and recover?—”

No way this lady was keeping my body if she was going to act like that. This was my house. I reached out and grabbed her hair—my hair—and pulled her back.

Don’t drag me deeper into this. I yelled at her, pulling for all I was worth. Just make me human again.

Get him to Vinguard, ungrateful daughter. I will show you the way.

She dropped me to the cold floor in a tangle of limbs and soon-to-be bruises. I groaned on the floor as Ward stepped forward.

“Give us a minute.”

Ward cleared everyone out of the room, even the most curious, as I sank into a puddle of mess. The looks of awe were too much. Ten times worse than the temple. I got it. Seeing a long dead Goddess manifest was snazzy, but it couldn't have happened to a more reluctant vessel.

Ward sat on the floor with me, magic still sparkling around us. I climbed into his lap for comfort. It didn’t matter that it made little sense to have a stranger comfort me. I wanted his arms around me. I wouldn’t cry, though.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“You mean you all don’t channel a Goddess every day before breakfast?” I said.

“I mean, I have a friend who is a nightmare walker, so I’ve seen a lot, but I’ve never seen that. What did she say?”

“It was the name of a winery or something—Vinguard—and that she would give us a map or something. I don’t feel any less snakey.”

“I don’t think you are,” he admitted. “And I don’t think you will be. The Goddess doesn’t favor humans.”

“How did I get tangled deeper into this?” I swallowed hard on those tears. I would not cry.

“You don’t want to hear it, but you have received a great blessing.”

If I was supposed to receive a map, did that mean I could go with him? Did I want to? “Does the map just fall from the sky or do you get a cool invisible tattoo of it or someth?—”

A boom resounded in my head and the nightmare hangover seemed a little petty from a Goddess, because a queasy feeling urged me to get up. “Is Vinguard in the West?” I asked.

“Yes,” Ward confirmed. “About a week’s ride.”

I shuffled across the floor in the direction I thought was west. The queasy feeling increased.

“Ward?” I don’t know how I kept from screaming. Damn, tears were dripping onto Ward’s hands as he cupped my face. “I’m the map.”

A resigned sigh escaped his lips and ruffled my hair. There might have been a hint of relief in there, too. “I will keep you safe by my side, even on the road.”

One night out of our village and I was about to go on a quest for real. Fear said I couldn’t trust him, even as big as he was. I didn’t know if his promises made me feel any better. The tears came faster. I braced for the pop into my snake form.

“Mate—Evie—no. It will be okay. No one would dare cross us. Giant snake, giant bear, a mage and a Goddess’ instrument?”

His gigantic hands squished my cheeks as he wiped the tears away. Was I allowed to live inside him? Ward stared at my mouth, but didn’t move toward me. I suddenly needed the comfort of his warm embrace.

“So we have to…”

“Go on a bigger quest to save our people,” he said.

He said our people. My brain slipped and slid for some reality to hold on to. I didn’t trust any of this. I would fail everyone for sure.

“No matter what, I won’t make you go, mate. We will find another way if we have to.”

He wouldn't. Even barely knowing each other, I knew that about Ward. My village had been wrong about one shifter, at least. He would save me from this if he could. Maybe that’s what gave me the courage to do the right thing and say, “Okay.”

It might have been that, or the way he looked at me—hope, admiration, warmth melting together. Like he actually believed I could do this. I needed him to prove he was real when everything told me he was too good to be true.

“Okay,” he echoed. He was going to get up and then this thing would have to start. I needed a second. A safe harbor for a moment. I kissed him like it was the most natural thing in the world. He returned it with hunger. Not a pity kiss or a ‘thank you’, just an expression of comfort that heated my body to volcanic. I forgot everything about this disaster for the wonderful moments his mouth slowly explored mine. I asked, and he provided.

It came to me with crystal clarity that I wouldn’t miss this quest for the world, even if I didn’t know what I was doing. But I had to breathe through my stuffed nose and as we parted, the responsibility crashed back on my shoulders. Like being a snake wasn’t bad enough. Now I had to figure out how to be a magical relic detector.